Thursday, December 31, 2015

Constructor: Ben Tausig

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME:MONOPOLY (65A: Game patented December 31, 1935) — answers that require you to PASS GO (i.e. skip over the letter string "GO") when you read them, if you want the wacky clues to make sense (62A: Round a corner in MONOPOLY ... or what you must do to answer the clues for 20-, 34-, 43- and 56-Across) . With "GO," the phrases are simply common words / things; without "GO," they are wacky answers to wacky "?" clues:

Theme answers:

GOOGLE DOCS (20A: Enjoy the swimsuit edition of The New England Journal of Medicine?)

CARGO SHORTS (34A: Brief entries in an auto film festival?)

WAGON MASTER (43A: Sickly-looking overlord?)

EGOMANIACS (56A: People obsessed with being online?)

Word of the Day: SNIP (50D: Insignificant person) —

(google)

• • •

If you think this is weird ... it gets weirder. Let's start with what we have before us: a pretty good, very current / contemporary MONOPOLY-related puzzle with a play-on-words theme (involving the phrase PASS GO). The fact of the game's being patented on December 31, 1935 is the presumptive reason for running this puzzle today. God I love that the actual New Year's Eve-themed puzzle got bumped to non-New Year's Eve for *this*, which is about as obliquely, tenuously, flimsily related to New Year's Eve as a theme can be. You want generic end-of-year holiday crap, go back in time, man. Tonight, we MONOPOLY.

I think the theme holds up pretty well as a tricky Thursday. I don't really know what a WAGON MASTER is, but I assume he masters wagons, or at least drives them. It's strange: when I got GOOGLE DOCS, I just assumed GOOGLE was another word for "stare at" (like OGLE ... or maybe GOGGLE), and so I thought the answer was funny but had no idea the "GO" needed to be passed. So when I got to WAGON MASTER, I was baffled. "How are wagons ... sickly-looking?" Only after the revealer did it become clear (which, I guess, is where "revealer" gets its name—its role in "revealing" or "making clear" the tbeme). I loved all the current references—including the clues on GRETA (27A: Actress Gerwig of "Mistress America"), IFC (71A: Cable channel that airs "Portlandia"), PEELE (12D: Key's longtime partner in sketch comedy), and STEVEN (66A: Psychologist Pinker who wrote "How the Mind Works"). Lots and lots of "?" clues made this one playful and toughish. I did not know SNIP and really doubted it. But there it is, in the dictionary. I will never like RPS (... per second?) or USH, dictionaries be damned. My favorite clues were [Spanish nuts] for LOCO and [Swiftly built home?] for NEST. I also like that Ben got both his own name (UNCLE BEN) and (aurally) the editor's (CARGO SHORTS) into the grid. I am also in the grid, as I had a MIXED DRINK earlier in the evening (Manhattan w/ Knob Creek rye) and I'm currently wearing EYEGLASSES. So there.

So I started this write-up by saying "it gets weirder." To see just how weird, you're going to have to do three more puzzles today: Buzzfeed, American Values Crossword Club, and Brendan Emmett Quigley (AVXC is normally subscription, but *today's* puzzle is FREE). I am telling you this as if *I* know exactly what's going to happen, and I don't. I just know that the four puzzles are all ... related. In a certain way. For certain reasons. Each puzzle stands completely on its own merits, so there's no need to do the other puzzles. In fact, I'm pretty sure the NYT didn't even know it was going to be just one part of a linked set of puzzles that all come out today. That little bit of information—the whole guerrilla crosswording angle—makes me infinitely happy. Anyway ... yeah. Something to look forward to. Happy New Year's Eve, for real.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

THEME:AULD LANG SYNE — the song you sing on NEW / YEAR'S / EVE (64A: With 65- and 66-Across, when to sing the song in the circled squares)

Theme answers:

PAUL DIRAC (20A: Physics Nobelist who pioneered in quantum mechanics)

ALAN GREENSPAN (37A: Federal Reserve chairman under four presidents)

GREASY NEALE

Word of the Day: GREASY NEALE (51A: Football Hall-of-Famer with a nickname befitting his elusiveness on the field) —

Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. // Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia.Although writers eventually assumed that Neale got his nickname, "Greasy", from his elusiveness on the football field, it actually arose during his youth, from a name-calling joust with a friend.[...] Neale was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Both inductions recognized his coaching career. (wikipedia)

• • •

New Year's Eve is still December 31, right? They didn't move it. I don't really understand doing a New Year's Eve puzzle *not* on New Year's Eve. I get that this puzzle *type* is more Wednesday than Thursday, but a holiday puzzle should fall on the holiday, day of the week be damned. That, or constructors should anticipate the day their holiday puzzle will fall on and plan accordingly. They have calendars now that can see well into the future and tell you such things. This is a very basic puzzle type, but the execution is interesting. Not sure I enjoyed it, but it is interesting: mirror symmetry, plus circles, plus the rarely-if-ever seen Entire Bottom Line revealer. Two of the three theme answer names seem pretty obscure for Wed. theme answers. Not that PAUL DIRAC and GREASY NEALE aren't puzzle-worthy; they're just niche famous, whereas ALAN GREENSPAN is all-the-way famous (which is to say, he's alive and remains prominent in the cultural memory—100 years from now, ALAN GREENSPAN will probably be the third-most-famous themer in this puzzle). I barely knew DIRAC, and while I knew NEALE, I misremembered who he was. I had him as a member of the '72 Dolphins. Their quarterback was Bob Griese, but I know who Bob Griese is, so that's not whom I was imagining. Guy I was imagining was black (unlike Griese). Also a wide receiver (unlike Griese). No idea what I was thinking.I think I also half-thought that he was on the Meadowlark Lemon-era Harlem Globetrotters. . . Yes! There we go: Fred "Curly" Neal.

Perhaps because the grid is trying to be (and occasionally is) sparkly, there is some less-than-lovely fill. By "some" I mean "lots of." From the truly terrible APOX and NLER, to scads of merely subpar stuff like TAVI, TSE, ELS, IBEAM, RIA, SAGO, DTS, ACCTS, and a lot more ho-hum short stuff. I got held up in a few places. No idea that [Yanqui] was AMERICANO. To me, an AMERICANO is a coffee—espresso w/ hot water added. I had one earlier today. I think it's also a cocktail. I actually had AMERICANS there, thinking [Yanqui] was somehow plural (!?), but then I got the NEATO cross. I also had trouble picking up MINUS SIGN (5D: Something that makes a difference?) (not surprising, given that clue), and V-CHIPS (23A: TV monitors?) (another "?" clue). Do V-CHIPS still exist? I never hear them mentioned. They seem a very '90s thing somehow. Like ... people wanted them in the '90s to keep their kids from watching "South Park." That's what I remember about V-CHIPS: freaked-out '90s parents.

I liked YVES over EVE. I didn't like ENDS over ENDOR. I liked the adjacent pairing BEAT / POETS. BOB AND WEAVE and HEALTHY GLOW make nice pillars. I hope the grid isn't supposed to be a visual representation of anything, like a dropping ball or a noisemaker or something, because if so, I clean missed it.

Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron (formerly Killa Cam), is an American rapper, actor and entrepreneur from Harlem, New York. He is the de facto leader of East Coast hip hop groups The Diplomats (also known as Dipset), and U.N. (Us Now). Cam'ron was also a part of the group Children of the Corn before they disbanded in 1997. // In 1998 Cam'ron released his debut album Confessions of Fire on Epic, the album would achieve gold status by the RIAA. In 2000 Cam'ron released his second album S.D.E. (Sports Drugs & Entertainment). In 2001 Cam'ron signed a new label deal with Roc-A-Fella Records and released his critically acclaimed, third studio album Come Home with Me. it achieved platinum status by the RIAA, and also contained Cam'ron's highest charting Billboard single to date, "Oh Boy," featuring his artist at the time Juelz Santana. In 2002 Cam'ron starred in the Roc-A-Fella films Paper Soldiers and Paid in Full. In 2004 Cam'ron released his fourth studio album Purple Haze to critical acclaim reaching gold status by the RIAA. // In 2005 after disbanding his record label, Diplomat Records, from Roc-A-Fella Records due to business disagreements, Cam'ron signed the label to a distribution deal with Asylum Records. In 2006 Cam'ron released his fifth studio album, Killa Season. Though it did not chart higher than his previous albums, it still managed to go gold status by the RIAA. The album also contained a movie of the same name, in which Cam'ron made his director/screenwriter debut and starred as the main character. In 2009, after taking a hiatus due to his mother's health, Cam'ron returned to music and released his sixth studio album Crime Pays. It reached #3 on the Billboard 200. (wikipedia)

• • •

The humor here is corny, but maybe you're into that. What I hope you're not into, however, is the strange and often inapt cluing on these themers. Too often, the "pun" involved was not clearly related to the entity being complimented at all. Fruit-of-the-month club? For "bad"? First, why not just a fruit stand? You know, a thing that normal people experience on a regular basis? Second, "bad" just doesn't say "fruit." Part of the reason this puzzle played harder than normal was that the clue / answer connections seemed so weak or odd. I had NOT BAD and then needed every cross to get AT ALL and then had no idea what was going on. How is that appropriate for a ... fruit-of-the-month club? Later, I "got" it, but the connection is still weak. WELL DONE, by contrast, is spot-on as a compliment for a steakhouse. You see that, right? How the play on words with the steakhouse is Perfect, whereas with the fruit ... not so much. Anything can be "bad." Most things, in fact. And why would the charcoal *seller* be on fire? A "charcoal seller" doesn't feel like a thing, actually. The "YOU'RE" part of "YOU'RE ON FIRE" weirdly personalizes it—makes it sound like some poor guy has been accidentally set aflame. These theme answers stuck the landing only about half the time, and none of them are actually funny.

The grid, on the other hand, is a cut above most Tuesdays. Very kinetic, what with the BARREL ROLL and the TRAMPOLINE. CAM'RON seems pretty obscure for a Tuesday, but I'm not too mad about that. I also liked seeing KWAME Kilpatrick, even though he's in jail now. I can't ever remember seeing any KWAME in the grid before—oh, wait, I think I probably have, in the form of KWAME Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. The only other KWAME I can think of is Brown—the first number one NBA draft pick to be selected straight out of high school. He had a long if not terribly noteworthy career. I also liked the SPLASHY / LAMBADA pairing. LOW RES gave me fits. Needed every cross. It was a weird, slightly toughish, occasionally enjoyable Tuesday (which, honestly, makes it better than most Tuesdays).

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), better known by her stage name Lana Del Rey, is an American singer, songwriter, and model. Her music has been noted for its cinematic style and its references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960sAmericana. // Del Rey first received recognition after the release of her major-label debut Born to Die January 2012; aided by initial Internet buzz surrounding her "Video Games" single.[2]Born to Die peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was the fifth best-selling album of 2012. A remix of its single "Summertime Sadness", produced by Cedric Gervais, peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The Paradise EP was released that November, and garnered Del Rey her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. Three of its tracks were featured in her short filmTropico, which premiered in December 2013. Del Rey's third studio album, Ultraviolence, was released in 2014, becoming her first number-one record in the United States. She released her fourth studio album, Honeymoon, the following year. Del Rey is the most streamed female artist on Spotify in the United States, and the fourth worldwide. (wikipedia)

• • •

I have often been a fan of repurposed crosswordese—taking something stale and crossword-common and giving it new life as, say, a rebus square (saw this done with ERG once) or, perhaps, a revealer. The problem with STS is it doesn't even qualify as crosswordese. It's just an ugly abbr. that you would never ever be happy to see in (or put in) your puzzle. It just doesn't work as a revealer, and by "work" I mean provide any revelatory pleasure. It remains a three-letter piece of junk fill. Beyond that, I like some of the themers (SEAL TEAM SIX, STEM TO STERN) and others, I like less. Not fan of THE being included as a "T" for the admittedly nitpicky reason that one rarely if ever sees the definite article included in an abbr. or acronym (except in textspeak; e.g. "WTF"). Of course, this is usually true of all short words ("of," "to," "the," etc.), but "the" seems the most skippable of all. So the idea that it can rep a "T" feels weak to me. SEAL TEAM SIX, three solid words; SINBAD THE SAILOR, two solid words and a connecting word that doesn't merit inclusion in an abbr. Further into nitpicking, SPOKE TOO SOON seems infinitely better than SPEAK, in that it's a phrase you would say, on its own, after, well, speaking too soon. "Whoops ... SPOKE TOO SOON." SPEAK TO SOON ... just doesn't stand alone nearly as well. Not sure why SPEAK over SPOKE here, considering they're the same length. But give the theme some credit: there aren't a lot of other phrases out there that can fit this pattern. So ... if you're going to ride with STS (and I wouldn't, but if you are), you aren't going to do much better than these five right here.

[Profanity and drug references ahead...]

Fill is ordinary, somewhat on the dull/crusty side. Liked seeing HOMS in the puzzle (71A: War-torn Syrian city); it's in the news a lot these days (albeit for terrible reasons), and seems like it should get more grid recognition than it does. But ILSA *and* ELSA *and* ESAI ... there oughta be a law. Lots and lots of other exceedingly common stuff. "ANNABEL LEE" (29D: Poe poem that concludes "In her tomb by the sounding sea") gives the grid a little OOMPH, but in the end, the grid is just too smothered in ERTEs and OLEOS for a single longer answer to have much of a difference on the overall feel of the grid.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

THEME:"Binary Code" — all theme clues are double letter (e.g. [FF]); answer are common phrases which, when interpreted in a certain literal fashion, can refer to said double letters:

Theme answers:

SHOPPING CENTER (23A: PP) [because "PP" is the "center" of the word "shopping"]

DEAD ENDS (36A: DD) [because "D" is on either "end" of "dead"] [etc.]

NCAA FINALS (46A: AA)

WINDOW FRAME (64A: WW)

ONION RINGS (82A: OO)

JAZZ DUET (95A: ZZ)

MINNESOTA TWINS (110A: NN)

MARRIED COUPLE (15D: RR)

LEADOFF DOUBLE (52D: FF)

Word of the Day: SANGRITA (9D: Spicy fruit beverage often used as a tequila chaser) —

Sangrita (meaning "little blood"), whose origin dates back to the 1920s, is a customary partner to a shot of straight tequilablanco; a non-alcoholic accompaniment that highlights tequila's crisp acidity and cleanses the palate between each peppery sip. The basic conception of sangrita is to complement the flavor of 100% agave tequila, which is also peppery and citrusy in taste. Before increased worldwide popularity and corporate interest in tequila in the late 1990s and early 21st century, few outside of the Mexican Pacific region bordering the state of Jalisco, where tequila was mainly produced and consumed, knew of the existence of sangrita, and much less its recipe. As popularity grew, so did commercial efforts to recreate the mysterious red, spicy drink that was served with tequila. In fact the drink was not that mysterious. While most outsiders would reference its red make up as tomato juice and spices, locals and traditionalists agree that the one ingredient that most likely doesn't belong is tomato. (wikipedia)

• • •

Not a strong Sunday. This isn't a theme so much as a regular NYT cluing convention masquerading as a theme. That is, we regularly see, for instance, CEES clued as [Comedic duo?], [Psychic couple?], and the like. So today, we get that same, common cluing gimmick, but now ... it's a theme. Except the clever clues are ... answers. It's fine as an idle diversion, but it's not much as a core concept for the NYT's marquee puzzle goes. The concept not only isn't original—it recycles like crazy. Clues that have appeared in other puzzles: [Dead ends?] for DEES; [Minnesota Twins?] for ENS; [Jazz duet] for ZEES. The constructors even recycle their own work—they used [Shopping center?] to clue PEES in a puzzle they made for the LA Times in 2012. I guess the idea of making the "?" clues into answers is its own kind of novelty, but it's not much of one. There is nothing *bad* about this puzzle. It does what it does, consistently. And the grid is a little on the staid / old-fashioned side, but it's fine. The problem is that the puzzle does nothing but rehash the familiar; it's just too unimaginative for a NYT Sunday puzzle. Also too easy, but that's not nearly as big a problem.

There was a "Little Rascals" boy named FARINA? Like ... the cereal? Cream-of-Wheat? That is news to me. I know Buckwheat and Spanky and Alfalfa and Darla and Petey and ... maybe some others, but not FARINA. Dennis FARINA, yes. This FARINA, no. Also didn't know SANGRITA. So I learned two things, only one of which I am likely to remember (I drink more than I think about "Little Rascals"). AGELONG is a weird word I wouldn't ever use. I had AGELESS there. I should probably asterisk this puzzle's difficulty level, since I was tipped off by some eager numbskull on Twitter who decided he needed to tell Susan ORLEAN she was in the puzzle before the puzzle ever came out online (49D: Susan who wrote "The Orchid Thief"). I have a whole "crossword" stream open on Twitter, so I saw the tweet, and I don't think she'd've been a flat-out gimme for me, so ... maybe add ten seconds or so to my time (still "Easy"). I tried LYCRA before LISLE at 57D: Durable stocking fabric. Otherwise, no problems at all.

Made a key lime pie today, which was a first. It somehow came out perfect. Near perfect, anyway. I'd give it like a 97/100. I tell you what, America's Test Kitchen is not *%$#ing around. Even a talentless baking hack like me can conjure up deliciousness with their recipes. So with two slices down the hatch—and the lingering effects of an earlier Sazerac cocktail still playing in my brain—I sat down to this themeless puzzle. It opened easily, not to mention improbably. Jarring opening 1-2, as I crossed the father of three major world religions with ... a cheesy lad mag.

Crossing a (literal) Patriarch with a magazine that represents the worst of The Patriarchy as my opening gambit was eerily predictive of a very, very male-dominated puzzle. Only woman in this thing (besides the MAXIM pin-ups) is animated (ELSA). But you've got tons of men, as well as BATTLE / ZONE and "Call of Duty" and TROJAN WAR and TAE BO and REBEL heroes and on and on with the violence and militarism. You'd think that we could at least get some gender balance in the *cluing*, but no. Oh well. This grid is still exceptionally well made. No groan-worthy junk. Not much to ooh and aah at at first, but things heated up once I got down to CASUAL SEX. As it were.

Didn't know RUDOLF (3D: Diesel who invented the diesel engine) or "ETHAN Brand," and didn't recognize RIEMANN or Ira LEVIN until I'd gotten almost all of their respective names from crosses. Could not for the life of me understand how THAI was an [Indian alternative]. I think it's a food thing? Seems pretty arbitrary, but that's all I got. Trouble areas were FAT ALBERT (which I haven't seen in almost 40 years) (50A: Cartoon friend of Dumb Donald and Weird Harold) and ZAPOTEC (the "P" gave me fits, as I had REDO instead of REPO at first at 28D: Take back, in a way). Hardest part by far was the SE corner, because "RIVER...."???? I couldn't wrap my head around what "Traveling show" even meant. Haven't thought about ... wait, is "RIVERDANCE" related to Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley? It is! Haven't heard either name since the '90s. Anyway, I had to go into that SE corner blind, getting traction with TAE BO (speaking of the '90s...) (55A: Program with a "Get Ripped" version) x/w SCRIBE (42D: Journalist, informally). After that, it was over pretty quickly.

One of those no-man's-land puzzles that can't seem to decide if it's themed or not, and so ends up with this light (sugar?) coating of theme. That's not really fair—there's clearly a XMAS theme here, however thin/scattered. It's just that after CANDY CANES (the most obvious answer in the grid), there isn't much space given over to theme material. Not white space, anyway. Just ST. NICHOLAS and the four XMAS squares. Visually, this (kind of) says Christmas, but content-wise, it's overwhelmingly a themeless. Feels like there's not much there there. The CANDY CANES element is transparent. The only thing there really is to "get" is the XMAS bit—I like that part. As a themeless, this has strengths and weaknesses, though I think the former outweigh the latter (the latter mostly have to do with a preponderance of short answers, due to the grid shape). "END OF STORY!", HALF-COCKED and NO-LOOK PASS are all wonderful. KGB SPIES totally confused me; that answer, with its massive initial consonant pile-up, was a major contributor to my considerable struggles in the NW. Couldn't come up with BOARDS (kept trying to stretch MCATS ...). Also hard: RIMS (4D: Goes around). Couldn't find the handle on BASK, and kept doubting OLEG because of the improbable "-GB-" juxtaposition it gave me in the answer that turned out to be KGB SPIES. Struggles in that corner were totally offset in the opposite corner (i.e. the SE), where I threw AD AGENCY across and got every Down, one after the other, with no hesitation.

Interesting to cross ALI with SOMALIS, since she is Somali-born (now a U.S. citizen). Also interesting to call a SLED a [Traditional Yule gift] because ... that's news to me. Was Rosebud a Yule gift? Do people still say "Yule" when it's not followed by "tide" or "log" or ("Brennere")? If I've ever heard of / seen AEF before today, I can't recall. Luckily the grid doesn't rely on anything else that antique and abbreviated. I had HE'S A KEEPER! instead of IT'S A KEEPER! at 12D: "Hang on to that one!" I feel like the clue was designed with that mistake in mind. I also had ENTICES instead of ENTRAPS at 36A: Inveigles, as in "He was inveigled / entrapped / enticed into HE'S A KEEPER!—the Charybdis of this grid's eastern half." (Get it? 'Cause the western half has Scylla ... the SEA MONSTER? ... yeah, you get it). Actually, enticing is more the Sirens' job ... hmmm ... rather than mull Odyssean metaphors, I'm gonna pack it in.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

THEME: GREEK / PLAYS (8A: With 58-Across, "Antigone" and others, ... or, when reinterpreted, a hint to 17-, 31- and 50-Across) — famous Greeks have their names "played" (?) with, i.e. clued as if they were actually wacky phrases:

Theme answers:

HIPPO CRATES (17A: Packing boxes for heavyweights?)

ARI, STOP HANES! (31A: Order to Onassis to block a brand of underwear?)

DEMOS THE NES (50A: Shows a Sega Genesis rival at an expo?)

Word of the Day: DEMOSTHENES —

Demosthenes (/dɪˈmɒs.θəniːz/; Greek: ΔημοσθένηςDēmosthénēs[dɛːmostʰénɛːs]; 384–322 BC) was a prominent Greekstatesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. He delivered his first judicial speeches at the age of 20, in which he argued effectively to gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech-writer (logographer) and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits. (wikipedia)

• • •

I wanted to like this, but it's hard to choke down a puzzle that starts with "TOP COPS" (what in the world...?) (1A: Early 1990s CBS series about the exploits of real-life police officers) crossing TOSHES (come on, now...) and then has grand thematic aspirations but can never quite find its footing. So ... the revealer clue refers to "Antigone" ... which is by Sophocles ... who is, in fact, a *playwright* ... but who is not in the grid. Well, that's OK, I guess we'll get *other* playwrights? And ... we do ... once. We get ARISTOPHANES. But then we also get non-playwrights somehow (HIPPOCRATES, DEMOSTHENES). Meanwhile, the puzzle seems to have wanted another thematic layer, as SAPPHO and PINDAR are both Greek writers whose names can ... if you get really, outrageous ... be clued as wacky phrases. Can you "sap" the Vietnamese soup "pho"? Can you "pin" the entire Daughters of the American Revolution? Maybe. But here, today ... no. Their names just sit there. No wackiness. What happened? There is No Way SAPPHO (16A: Whom Plato called "the tenth Muse") and PINDAR (52A: Noted writer of victory odes) are there coincidentally. And yet, no "?" clues? Bizarre.

Grid feels not very efficiently made. Theme isn't dense, and yet we end up with these ridiculously large (and therefore hard to fill cleanly) corners in the NW and SE. Why not put a corner cheater in there or ... something. Take the pressure off so we don't have to endure "TOP COPS" and TOSHES and ERLE and OCTO and the green paint of ONE ACRE. Or, on the other side of the grid, MTETNA PESETA HARI ORELSE ESSES. Seems like this one should've been sent back with a "nice idea—rebuild grid" note. Also, there is a story behind the de-theming of SAPPHO and PINDAR, I'm sure.

Didn't have that much trouble except in that first big corner. Didn't know LUIS or GRAEME or "TOP COPS," but I did know Hanson's "MMM BOP" (a song now older than every member of the band was when they first recorded it), which helped make the big corner in the SE much easier to handle.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Constructor: Jim Peredo

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME:"GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE" —each word from this quote from "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" (36A: Novella whose final words are found in the circled squares) is embedded in its own theme answer. Speaker of the quote is TINY TIM (with "TIM" all "tiny" there in his own little square) (65A: Speaker of the words in the circled squares, expressed literally)

I was mostly indifferent to this puzzle until that TINY [TIM] moment. That made it all worth while. You've got a dense theme with a quotation *and* a work title *and* a speaker *and* a rebus square all going at once. Plus the fill's not bad overall. I didn't know OTIS or SCUD or MONA Van Duyn and I never would've guessed the plural UGHS, and I had NOBILITÉ at first instead of NOBLESSE. PLUS, I didn't pick up the battlefield context of 38D: Call preceding "Medic!" and I had NOUN instead of TOOL at 2D: Jack, hammer or jackhammer and then I got sidetracked for a moment wondering if the clue on UNCOOL was still correct (7D: Like wearing socks with sandals, say). If you were paying attention this past summer, you probably noticed teenage boys wearing dark socks with shorts, which used to be an UNCOOL old-man look, but apparently no longer. I would not be surprised if socks w/ sandals ended up on the "cool" side of the ledger sometime very soon. But back to my main point, which is I had all these moments of sputtering and stalling and *still* finished this one in the mid-low 3s (fast, for me, for Wednesday). I'd like to thank PUSSY GALORE. At least I assume that's how I got rocket-boosted through this grid.

One issue: the clue on TINY [TIM] (65A: Speaker of the words in the circled squares, expressed literally). It's not "expressed literally." It's redundant, literally. Expressed literally, there would simply be the "TIM" box, i.e. a tiny TIM. So ... phrasing. Everything would've been great if you'd just left the unnecessary "expressed literally" out of it. Just leave clue as is. It's great. We can find TIM. We can see he's "tiny." It's a great, great, unexpected little discovery awaiting us at the end of the puzzle. Don't overexplain, thus mucking things up. Just let it be, man.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

THEME:SINGULAR (39A: Atypical ... or like the first word in the answer to 18-, 24-, 51- or 62-Across)

Theme answers:

PAJAMA PARTY (18A: Kids' event that goes into the wee hours)

SUNGLASS LENS (24A: Something in a movie star's frame?)

TROUSER PRESS (51A: Certain wrinkle remover)

SCISSOR KICK (62A: Sidestroke component)

Word of the Day: TROUSER PRESS —

Trouser Press was a rock and rollmagazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show Top of the Pops). Its original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply Trouser Press, and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine with color covers and advertising. (wikipedia)

• • •

Yarhhreareaeafegh..... not really feeling this super-sized (15x16) puzzle. I finished—in a time more Wednesdayish than Tuesdayish—and had no idea what just happened. Had to hunt down the revealer (which I'd gotten off the pre-ellipsis part of the clue, never bothering to look at the post-ellipsis part). And then there was some shrugging. I've never heard of a TROUSER PRESS—sounds vintage, like ... from a time when people invented weird niche contraptions, like escargot forks or leg warmers. Whole TROUSER part of that answer was hard to come by, especially since I had SMALLER for SPARSER (47A: Like the population of Alaska vis-à-vis New Jersey), and thus had no idea about all the affected Downs. SUNGLASS LENS ...? What is that? Just one lens in your two-lensed pair of sunglasses? That is ... I don't even know. I want to say it's one of the most made-up theme answers I've ever seen. SCISSOR KICK is delightfully far from actual scissors, whereas SUNGLASS
LENS ... is just one half of the two lenses you would normally find in
actual sunglasses. At least the other SINGULAR phrases are things one might actually say (yes, TROUSER PRESS, I'm throwing you that bone). SUNGLASS LENS ... I mean, jeez, SUNGLASS HUT is a dumb mall thing, but at least it's a Thing. But SUNGLASS HUT is too short to provide the symmetrical counterpart for TROUSER PRESS. So I blame TROUSER PRESS. Also, TROUSER SNAKE was available and you just *left* it on the table? I've been lobbying for Buzzfeed to get away from the dick jokes in its crosswords, but NYT ... you guys got some latitude. (Speaking of latitude, Loved 29A: Line of latitude ("IT'S UP TO YOU")). Lastly, theme-wise, SINGULAR is not what you'd call a scintillating revealer.

I need to go back to SUNGLASS LENS, because I feel like I must be missing something. I'm not sure I even understand the clue: [Something in a movie star's frame?]. So a movie star wears sunglasses (more than normal people?) and sunglasses have "frames" (the way film has frames, or something is in or out of frame in a movie shot?). But ... just the one lens then? It's a profile shot? Trying Too Hard (TTH). You have an already wonky, weird, arbitrary answer, and you decided to turn the clue into a gaudy neon arrow? I wish the fill had been able to rescue this one, but aside from the big corner answers (which I like) this one's just a bit too OCTO-EKES. Too CLI-RES. Too AESOPS-ROMS. Etc. I need a WHISKEY, so I am going to get a WHISKEY. Good day.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Relative difficulty:Medium (maybe a bit tougher because of the non-clues...)

THEME: Unnamed object — all theme answers are clued as [Unnamed object #[1-7]], and all are words used to refer to unnamed objects...

Theme answers:

CONTRAPTION

DOODAD

DINGUS

WHATCHAMACALLIT

WIDGET

GADGET

THINGAMAJIG

Word of the Day:DINGUS —

n.Informal

1. Somethingwhosename is unknown or forgotten.

2. A personregarded as stupid.

3. VulgarSlangThepenis. (thefreedictionary.com)

[from The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler, 1953]

• • •

A Christmas miracle—this was pretty good. I can't say I *enjoyed* it, exactly, and the whole [...] style of cluing is always a little irksome, particularly on a Monday. But as I look the puzzle over, I see it has a theme density and consistency that's solidly acceptable, *and* (huzzah) the fill is not a train wreck. I'd probably give it only three OYS on a scale of 1-10 OYS. The NE and SW corners are actually kind of interesting. I finished in under 3, but only barely. I got slowed down by the elliptical theme cluing, and by several wrong answers, starting right away, at 1A: Raised hairstyles (UPDOS). I wrote in AFROS, though as I was doing it, that little voice in the back of my head was like "Dude, it's UPDOS ... dude ... dude!" I went straight to the crosses, and sure enough, little voice was right.The fixing of that mistake ate up many seconds. I had to think for a bit about ENID, having EN- in place (8D: Woman's name that means "eat" backward). That clue is oddly phrased. I think it should say "when *spelled* backward. Because ... there's also backward pronunciation, and also ... if you say the clue aloud to yourself, it sounds like maybe her name means "eat backward," which is an odd phenomenon that probably doesn't have a name.

With -IC in place at 42A: Language of Egypt (ARABIC), I wrote in COPTIC (?!). Is that even ... what is that? I know it's a kind of Egyptian Christian. Is it also a language? Yes! Yes, it is. OK, I am going to pat myself on the back for a rather learned wrong answer. Another wrong answer that fit was MANIAC for 49D: Lunatic (MADMAN). Considering all the pitfalls and the ambiguous theme cluing, I'm feeling pretty good about my sub-3 time now. Anything else? Oh, I spent a painfully long five seconds or so trying to remember 39D: New York's ___ Island, even though like half of my students are from there. That is all. Gonna go destroy the pecan pie I made earlier today (completely from scratch). Little whipped cream (for the pie). Little bourbon (for me). Merry Christmas Week!

DO YOU HAVE ANY MILK? (Milk) (111A: "Corrected" slogan for a dairy product?)

Word of the Day:LEED(104A: Certification for eco-friendly buildings, for short) —

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most popular green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods[8] that aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently. (wikipedia)

• • •

Well, I learned what LEED is. That was weird. The full name of LEED is so business-speakingly, motivational-posteringly awful that we should all be glad if LEED just takes off on its own and no one ever remembers what it was based on. This theme, also, weird. The slogans are all "corrected" in very different ways. "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" is a perfectly "correct" slogan, grammatically. In fact, "EVERYBODY LIKES SARA LEE" is decidedly *not* an equivalent. "Nobody doesn't like" implies that perhaps some are indifferent. "Do you like Sara Lee?" "Meh." The original slogan leaves that possibility open. This "corrected" slogan Does Not. Also, EAT FRESHLY is just wrong. It's nonsense. It's a grammatical abomination. The food (presumably) is fresh, not the manner in which I am eating it (unless I'm eating in a pert, saucy manner, which I suppose is possible). Also, "a little dab" is not redundant. Not necessarily. Surely we can all imagine that in the world of "dabs," there might be all different sizes. All dabs matter. Two of these "corrections" set out to "correct" "got" ... replacing it with "have" (and other words). This feels absurd. So I mostly don't get this theme. That is, I get it, but I don't Get It. Got theme? No.

RESORT TO BOWED TO AS TO TO A MAN. It's all a little too too. Or TOTO, I guess. Fill is not terrible, but it's not exceptional either. RETRONYM is cool, though (he said, having recently put that word in one of his own puzzles ...). I had very little trouble with this one. AJ FOYT definitely took some wrestling, and I had ENCASE for ENCAGE at first (77A: Confine), and I didn't know LEED (see above), but otherwise, no struggles. Just BUGGLES.

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The Crossword Constructor's Handbook (Patrick Berry) (.PDF) — this is the constructor's bible. There is no better guide to how crosswords are made. Even people who never plan to make a crossword themselves will find this guide a revelation. ($10!!)

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Matt Gaffney's Daily Crossword (subscription) (.puz, .jpz, .PDF) — daily 10x10 crosswords, delivered to your Inbox each evening. I love these. If you like the NYT Mini but find the Mini just too ... Mini, well, this is for you. A whole year for just $24)

American Values Crossword (subscription) (.puz or .PDF) — One of the very best crosswords in the country has a ridiculous deal through New Year's Eve: $3 for 3 months worth of amazing weekly crosswords (no hyperbole, this is arguably the best crossword in the country). You can also get a regular old subscription (recommended; various subscription levels available) or go a la carte, $1/crossword.

Fireball Crosswords (subscription and/or books) — The other (arguably) greatest puzzle in the country. Hard as hell. Maddening but oh-so-satisfying. The most imaginative work from the top constructors. Subscribe now (2016 subscriptions are 45 puzzles/$25). Or buy collected editions of past puzzles—real, dead-tree books! Bonus: the first promotional blurb on the back is from yours truly. If you know a puzzle snob who looks down on all non-NYT puzzles, give them Fireball Crosswords and wish them luck.

SPECIAL MESSAGE for SYNDICATED solversfor the week of January 17-January 24, 2016

Hello, syndicated (i.e. 1-to-5-week-behind) solvers! Somehow, it is January again, which means it's time for my once-a-year pitch for financial contributions to the blog. The idea is very simple: if you read the blog regularly (or even semi-regularly), please consider what it's worth to you on an annual basis and give accordingly. In making this pitch, I'm pledging that the blog will continue to be here for you to read / enjoy / grimace at for at least another calendar year. This year is special, as it will mark the 10th anniversary of Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle, and despite my not-infrequent grumblings about less-than-stellar puzzles, I've actually never been so excited to be thinking and writing about crosswords. I have no way of knowing what's coming from the NYT, but the broader world of crosswords looks very bright, and that is sustaining. Whatever happens, this blog will remain an outpost of the Old Internet: no ads, no corporate sponsorship, no whistles and bells. Just the singular, personal voice of someone talking passionately about a topic he loves. As I have said in years past, I know that some people are opposed to paying for what they can get for free, and still others really don't have money to spare. Both kinds of people are welcome to continue reading my blog, with my compliments. It will always be free. I have no interest in cordoning it off, nor do I have any interest in taking advertising. I value my independence too much. Anyway, if you are so moved, there is a Paypal button in the sidebar, and a mailing address here:

Rex Parker
℅ Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton NY 13905

And here: I'll stick a PayPal button in here for the mobile users.

There. Hope that helps.

For people who send me actual, honest-to-god (i.e. "snail") mail (I love snail mail!), this year my thank-you cards are "Sibley Backyard Birding Postcards"—each card a different watercolor illustration by ornithologist David Sibley. You could get a Black PHOEBE. A California TOWHEE. Or maybe even a picture of some fabled SCARLET TANAGERS (15). Or give via PayPal and get a thank-you email. That's cool too. Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just say NO CARD. As I say in every thank-you card (and email), I'm so grateful for your readership and support. So thanks, not A TAD, but A TON (partial fill! coming in useful!). Now on to the puzzle …

• • •

This puzzle was memorable only for its beginning, which involved a weird yo-yo-ing down then back up the west side of the grid. After that, things got ugly (not difficulty-wise, but just ... grid attractiveness-wise). I wanted ACCRA at 1A: Gulf of Guinea metropolis) because I have a store of instantly available 5-letter world capitals in my head (from a quarter century of solving crosswords) and that was the first one that popped up (fun fact: I learned ACCRA from crosswords, way back when this blog first started). But I had zero confidence in it, and couldn't make crosses work, so I abandoned it. Put in KROLL (17A: Comedian Nick with a self-titled Comedy Central show) but didn't feel good about it (getting a pop culture answer like that, first thing, always feels a bit like cheating). But that didn't lead me anywhere either. I guessed OBS and then guessed the UP part of what became CHOPS UP. "P" from UP got me DUPONTS (30A: Influential industrial family), which spilled into CONTRACT (24D: Something the ink has dried on), which ... was wrong. I figured this out quickly by checking crosses, noticing 42A: Rapper who publicly feuded with Dr. Dre, and *knowing* the answer was EAZY-E (not EAZY-A). So CONTRACT, out. By GOLLY, in. Then LEO and back up the grid to YOU GO GIRL and eventually the improbably spelled AYKROYD (1D: "Brother" player of old TV and film) (I had a "C" in the second position and stared at CAHO- at 14A: Email option for what felt like a Long time).

Once I worked my way to the lower bottom, though, the fill got a lot uglier. That whole block from REPOT east to the -INS part of MERLIN'S is pretty rough. Very Very rough. PEDI OREN TSOS is an abominable stack. A 70-word themeless should have no rough patches that bad, and this one has a few. See also LLANOS / ILS / INSTR and EVEL / EVILER / MILA. Also, "POPI," which ... no. There's some funnish stuff here and there, but overall there's too much on the low end. ICEE FOSS ENTS! Not really feeling it.